Crocodile and Plover Bird (2019)

I'm pleasantly surprised by how quickly I watched this and how much I enjoyed it! I watched most of it without subtitles so I didn't fully understand all the scientific/business aspects of the storyline, but that doesn't matter to me since what I loved was the romance and the characters.

I loved every single scene between Chen Bo Lin and Zhang Tian Ai as the main characters Zhou Erwen and Li Nanen. Zhou Erwen is a serious, principled, and stubborn genius working determinedly on an ecological project with Gao Mu, Wu Suowei, and Yu Buji. He frequently makes decisions on his own, alienating his teammates. When Li Nanen goes to France to study architecture, she meets the four of them and it becomes her goal to join their project. Li Nanen is lively, upbeat, and relentlessly pursues her dreams. Although Li Nanen and Zhou Erwen's personalities initially clash, they learn from and inspire each other. Their relationship develops at a great pace with so many heartwarming moments. That's not to say there weren't obstacles between them—there are MANY, including some classic c-drama tropes (sigh)—but I had faith that they would be able to overcome everything. They thoroughly won me over and I would rewatch all their scenes.

Aside from the two leads, I liked every major side character except for one: Wan Wei. She's awful from start to finish, and I'm warning you so you don't get your hopes up about her. I liked the project team members; their relationships with each other were nuanced and sometimes tense. There are also multiple side couples, exploring how love isn't always enough, how people can change (for better or worse), and how sometimes you only love the idea of someone.

Surprisingly, there was a lot of action in this drama, like scientific espionage and corporate scheming. It definitely helped build urgency and kept the drama moving at a fast pace. In the last five episodes, I thought (and hoped) things would wind down but it was dramatic all the way until the very end.

Also, just want to mention that since much of the drama takes place in France, there is a lot of French spoken. I have no idea if the French lines were written or spoken well, or if the translations were accurate.

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